Railroad Fined NIS 376,000 in Fatal 2006 Derailment

The Lod District Court fined the Israel Railways 376,000 shekels, Sunday, over the derailment of a train from Haifa to Tel Aviv, which hit a van in the Beit Yehoshua' area of the Sharon region in June, 2006. The families of each of the five people killed will receive NIS 75,000. Dozens of others were injured.

In comments accompanying the ruling, the court said, "Given the fact that it is responsible for the welfare and safety of hundreds of thousands of passengers and in recent years has become an integral part of the landscape, the railroad did not see to the existence of thought processes aimed at short-term treatment in the event of an obstacle [on the track]. Despite the existence of a previous accident and additional dangerous incidents, the railroad did not learn lessons in an appropriate way."